Some heart attack patients don't need beta blockers

New research shows that beta blocker It may not be necessary for some patients with heart attack.

Beta blockers are drugs that reduce stress on the heart. They have been used for heart attack patients since the 1980s, when there were fewer detection and treatment options.

This study New England Medical Journal, The event attracted 5,020 participants, mainly from Sweden. The participants had heart attacks but maintained vital heart function. The researchers found that people who were given beta-blockers had less well-being than people who were not given the drug.

Dr. Eric ElginThe study is a reminder to health care providers that continued improvement requires questioning long-standing practices, said Dr. Lehigh Valley Health Network, director of cardiology at the Heart and Vascular Institute. He said it was a good thing.

“This study showed that in heart attack patients with preserved myocardial function, there is no additional benefit from using beta-blockers,” Elgin told Berrywell. “This is huge. Physicians can now focus on medications and treatments that continue to benefit patients.”

The new study included only people who did not have significant heart damage and received early intervention. For people with more severe symptoms, beta-blockers appear to remain an important part of care, and further research needs to be done in both cases.

Can you stop taking beta blockers?

There is no indication that patients who have had a heart attack and received beta-blockers should immediately consider changing their dosage or usage.

“If you're taking a beta blocker, you can't stop taking it; you have to taper it off gradually,” he said. Dr. Reynolds Ostrom, dean and professor of the Chapman University School of Pharmacy. “Therefore, it is important that patients consult their health care provider when considering discontinuing any medications, especially those that affect the heart.”

He said further research is needed in patients with reduced heart function. Andrew Paul DeFilippis, MD, MScMedical Director of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The function of the heart is determined by the amount of blood that leaves the ventricles when the heart beats. Participants in the study had a ventricular ejection fraction of 50% or higher.

“Subsequent studies should confirm these results in a different patient population, a different set of researchers, and then start lowering the stringent standards because they affect only a small proportion of heart attack patients. “It will be,” DeFilippis said. “But what if he changed that number back to 40%? What would that look like?”

Will this study change treatment guidelines?

More than 95% of participants in the new study were Swedish, and more than 75% were male. Ostrom said many of the study's findings are likely to be applicable to other patient populations in other parts of the world, but consider how gender and racial demographics might change these results. stated that further research is needed.

Beta-blockers are relatively safe, DeFilippis said, but even if they have few side effects, the drugs can affect a person's quality of life, especially if they are taken with many drugs. added. Side effects of beta blockers include fatigue, depressionand a headache.

“Our goal is not only to help our patients live longer, but to live better. And in some cases, beta-blockers can cause pathological side effects for patients,” DeFilippis said. Ta.

As for whether the new study will change the way health care providers prescribe beta-blockers, Ostrom said more research needs to be completed before the study results can be implemented.

“Clinical practice sometimes changes slowly,” Ostrom says. “The dependence on beta-blockers in the cardiology world is very long and deeply ingrained, so moving away from beta-blockers in the right patient profile is appropriate, but perhaps not necessarily as quickly as needed. There are no limits.”